Danyel Warne
Danyel Warne was a Jedi knight, the husband of Ara Warne, father of Jedi apprentice Garen Warne and brother of Jedi knight Cerrinea Warne. He survived the Sith purge on Ossus, and through his ties to the Olari clan Kessana, immediately began seeking out other Jedi survivors and fighting the Sith wherever possible. History Childhood (101 ABY to 116 ABY) Born on Ossus to two Jedi masters, Danyel was anything but the traditional child of Jedi. Descended in a direct line from Val and Ariel Kessana, Danyel had inherited the Olari character in abundance. In combination with his Force connection, Danyel was from early childhood a handful, and he was famous for his escapades. His parents were quite sure for every one he was caught doing, there were many more he got by with. Privately the Jedi Council considered that it was a toss up as to whether Danyel would become one heck of a Jedi or a criminal genius. But despite his wild nature, Danyel was well liked. There was a wonderfully warm and optimistic nature about Danyel that drew people to him. And as he grew older, he did start to settle down somewhat. When Danyel turned twelve, his father formalized what had basically already existed. He became master to his son's apprentice. Aware of the gradual change in his son, Daeren Warne was sure the path to Danyel's knighthood would not be unduly rough. What he didn't know was that Danyel had a secret that accounted for the change,and he was very intent on keeping it. Danyel always accompanied his father to the Praxium on Dathomir because he'd made friends with a young witch his own age. Ara Ven had been forbidden by her clan to go anywhere near the Jedi, but she and Danyel were meeting in secret. Danyel was teaching Ara everything he learned, so that when Ara was eighteen and free to join the Jedi, she would be as trained as Danyel could make her. They knew they had to be very careful for Danyel was breaking a cardinal rule of the agreement between the witches and the Jedi, but they considered her future worth the risk. Danyel curbed his wilder side rather than risk exposure. A Change of Plans (116 ABY to 117 ABY) The odds were long but it might have worked except for one thing; Danyel and Ara fell in love. Meeting alone at night without any supervision the inevitable happened. Ara became pregnant and the consequences were more than just their exposure. Not only was the future of the Praxium at risk, but so was their child. Ara was underage, she was carrying a boy and on Dathomir that meant a life of slavery. Danyel took the only option he saw available. He and Ara fled Dathomir in the middle of the night and went into hiding from everyone. They would wait it out until Ara was eighteen and then return to the Jedi. If that option was closed, Danyel would take Ara to Olaran and make a life there with her. They took work on a cargo ship, and in due course their son was born. They named him Garen after Ara's father, a Jedi knight who'd died when she was a little girl. For the next several months they lived a satisfying, happy life with their baby son and expected to continue doing so. But one day while they were in port Ara left the ship to buy some supplies while Danyel stayed behind to with their son. She never came back. As Danyel searched for Ara, retracing her footsteps he sensed a lingering darkness. Accepting that this was more than he could deal with on his own, Danyel contacted his parents. Daeren and Ariane Warne rushed to their son's side, and put their resources to work. Using discretion they contacted not the Jedi Council, but the Olari intelligence organization, Saber. Word soon reached them via Saber that Ara was back on Dathomir, had been punished for defying the clan, and was under constant watch. Still, she'd managed to speak to the Olari agent and through him to Danyel. Her clan did not know of Garen's existence, and in two years when she was eighteen and free she would meet him on Ossus. Danyel sent word back through the agent that in two years he would come to Dathomir and get her. An Old Life With A New Twist (117 ABY to 119 ABY) During Danyel's absence, his parents had let the assumption stand that they'd shipped him off to their Olaran relatives for a spell of Olari discipline and training. When they returned to Ossus, the senior Warnes explained Garen's presence by simply saying they were acting as guardians because the child's parents were too young to raise him. It wasn't a lie and it was accepted even more so because Garen was Force strong. Danyel acquiesced to the arrangement, but made it clear that in private he was Garen's father. It did not escape the Jedi masters that Danyel was a changed person, and they put his new focused determination down to his spell of Olari discipline, but there was now another issue; Daeren Warne felt it was best if someone else completed Danyel's training. A young, capable Jedi Knight by the name of Dylan Farlander agreed to complete Danyel's training, and while surprised by it, the Council was pleased with the arrangement. Dylan and Daniel were a good balance and would grow very close. So close, in fact, that it was Dylan who saw Daniel through the worst time of his life. True to his word, Daniel returned to Dathomir the minute Ara turned eighteen, but tragic news greated him. He was told by her clan that Ara had been killed by Nightsisters a few months after her return. Danyel couldn't believe it. He was sure he would have felt Ara's death in the Force. It wasn't until Ara's mother convinced him, that Danyel realized that Ara was dead. Her mother's grief over the loss of her daughter was too real to be anything but the truth. Danyel left Dathomir in a welter of emotions, none of them good. With Dylan Farlander's help, Danyel was able to accept Ara's death, and move on. His parents were relieved. They deeply regreted the girl's death, but they hadn't known her and they felt their son, in time, would recover. Dylan Farlander knew better; he knew the depth of Danyel's feelings. Danyel would never "get over" Ara. Knighthood (120 to 130 ABY) A year after Ara's death, Danyel was made a Jedi Knight, and it was a bittersweet moment. Still, Danyel had regained most of his warm and inviting nature, partly for the sake of his son, and partly because it was his nature. His knighthood didn't change much about his life however, not at first. He and Dylan still went on missions together, and when Danyel returned from them, he devoted himself to Garen. The thought of Ara still brought pain, but it was an old pain he learned to live with. He'd been given a life Ara hadn't, and while it had been brief, he'd had a great love. So his regrets were for the bright life that had been extinguished too soon and the son who would never know his mother; not for himself. The years passed for Danyel mostly in contentment and the joy he found in his son. In time, he would become Garen's master, and Danyel knew Garen wouldn't be able to pull on him what he'd pulled on his own father. Time, however, was not on their side. In 127 ABY the Empire of Roan Fel invoked the Treaty of Anaxes and declared war on the Galactic Alliance. At first the war went well for the GA, but in its second year, the One Sith emerged and the Jedi knew they were in a battle to the death. When the war ended with the defeat of the GA at Caamas, Danyel for one did not trust the promises of safety for the Jedi on Ossus. He (and his sister Cerri) did not return to Ossus and so escaped the massacre there. When word reached them that all but a few younglings had been slaughtered, Danyel and his sister fled to the Unknown Regions and their Olari Relatives. War's Aftermath (130 t0 ABY) Danyel had not felt Garen's death, but he was sick at heart not knowing his son's fate. He immediately set about recruiting a group of Olari to return to the known galaxy to find and assist Jedi survivors; hopefully Garen would be among them. Since the surviving Jedi had gone to ground and were very good at hiding, it was difficult and dangerous work. Fortunately they had the assistance of Saber and Cerri Warne,s own excellent covert skills. They followed many leads and eventually learned that Garen was being held prisoner in the Praxium on Dathomir by a clan of Nightsisters working in alliance with the Sith. Danyel headed to Dathomir rendezvousing with several Jedi there. With the help of some Dathomiri witches they were able to retake the Praxeum, only to find that Garen had escaped but hadn't escaped alone. Not only had a Jedi hiding on Dathomir assisted him, but a Nightsister had been responsible for getting them off the planet. She'd left with them and her name was Araziel Kai. Araziel Kai was Ara's clan name. All of Danyel's hard-won acceptance over Ara's death came crashing down around him. He knew he'd been lied to, and he also understood why he believed the lie. To her mother, Ara's becoming a nightsister had been the same as death. To the witch clans there was no going back from that. But Danyel also knew that whatever had happened, Ara had not become a nightsister of her own free will. His faith in Ara was complete. Danyel waited a scarce few hours to follow his wife and son. He finally caught up with them in, of all places, an Imperial ship commanded by a group of Fel loyalists headed for a space station still in the hands of the True Empire. It was there that Dylan Farlander contacted him and requested his presence back on Dathomir; now Farlander's base of operations for Rebellion style strikes against the Sith. Danyel was absolutely unwilling to risk his wife's newfound fragile balance so he gave Ara the choice. They could return to Dathomir or they could at last go to Olaran. Ara chose to put her past to rest. A family again after so many years, Danyel, Ara and Garen returned to where it had all started.